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seeded Steffi Graf won her 50th career singles title as she defeated ninth-seeded Manuela
Maleeva-Fragniere 6-3, 6-2 to win the $225,000 Great American Bank Tennis Classic before
a sellout crowd of 5,000 at the San Diego Tennis & Racquet Club.
Graf, who did not lose a set all week, jumped out to a 4-0 lead
in the first set and never trailed against Maleeva-Fragniere, a
23-year-old native of Bulgaria.
Maleeva-Fragniere rallied to win three straight games to make the
score 4-3, but Graf held at love and broke serve to wrap up the
first set.
In the second set, Graf again jumped out to a big lead with two
early service breaks and cruised to the victory.
Graf, who earned $45,0000 for her victory, improved to 13-0 in career
matches against Maleeva-Fragniere, who came into the tournament
ranked fourth in the world. She received $22,500.
In the semifinals, Graf defeated fifth-seeded Zina Garrison 6-4,
7-5 in a rematch of the previous year's final. Earlier in the summer,
Garrison reached the Wimbledon finals after upsetting Graf in a
three-set semifinal match.
She became the first black female to reach the final of a Grand
Slam event since Althea Gibson won Wimbledon in 1957 and 1958.
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| Tournament action
on Stadium Court at the San Diego Tennis & Racquet
Club |
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Garrison didn't go home empty handed, as she teamed with fellow American,
Patty Fendick to defeat Elise Burgin and Ros Fairbank-Nideffer 6-4, 7-6 (5) to win the doubles
title.
Tournament notes
Second-seeded Martina Navratilova withdrew before her first round match due to an injury,
which was described as a mild to moderate injury to the calf muscle in her left leg.
Graf showed no ill effects from a sinus operation she underwent after Wimbledon to help
improve her breathing.
On the day of the finals, a man from Los Angeles became disgruntled when he attempted to
buy a ticket and was told the event was sold out. It turned out he was looking for Sea World,
which is located nearby on the other side of Mission Bay.
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